Plenty to charge Clinton on Monica: prosecutor

Matthew EngelMarch 8 2002

An independent prosecutor appointed to investigate former president Bill Clinton over sex scandals said enough evidence had been collected to charge, and probably convict him, because of his lies over his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

The final report from Robert Ray, who succeeded Kenneth Starr as the prosecutor, said he had concluded "that sufficient evidence existed to prosecute and that such evidence would probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction".

However, Mr Ray said on Wednesday he had decided that "non-criminal alternatives" were preferable. Mr Clinton did a deal with Mr Ray not long before leaving office, in which he admitted giving false statements under oath in return for immunity.

Mr Clinton's lawyer, David Kendall, responded with a brief statement: "The investigation of President Clinton from 1994 to 2001 was intense, expensive, partisan and long. There's still no Whitewater report, and there's nothing new in this report. It's time to move on."

A spokeswoman for Mr Clinton, Jennifer Palmieri, said the report seemed designed to publicise Mr Ray's ambitions to run for the Senate. Mr Ray was legally obliged to produce this report before ending his office.");document.write("

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One more report is still to come, on the Whitewater property deals in Arkansas. However, it is already known that Mr Ray failed to find enough evidence to prosecute over Whitewater.

Mr Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 but acquitted by the Senate.